


Bury a Friend

by VeteranKlaus



Series: Family Bonds and Consequences [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fake Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Pranks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 21:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18535900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeteranKlaus/pseuds/VeteranKlaus
Summary: In which Klaus is greeted by the sight of a(nother) dead sibling.Or,The sibling's prank war goes too far.





	Bury a Friend

It started off harmless enough, and Klaus wasn't ashamed to say it had actually been him to start it, in a way, though he would also blame his siblings for retaliating. 

After averting the apocalypse the siblings had all agreed to stay at the academy together to try and fix old family bonds, help Vanya with her new powers, as well as Klaus' and his new found sobriety. So, to relieve some of the tension in the house, Klaus simply acted like his old self.

He started simple. Moved some furniture around, put a mouse trap in Diego's bed, swapped Luther's clothes out for some of his own - seeing Luther trying to cover his furry torso in a silky, floral-patterned robe and squeezed into loosest pair of Klaus' shorts he had found just to preserve his modest had been completely worth the threats. He replaced all the chocolate in the house (aside from his own stash, of course) with chili-chocolate, and he had put pictures of his own face over all the portraits in the house.

Then, his siblings began to retaliate. Any time he'd come out of a room Diego would be there, either with a nerf gun or a knife, to either shoot him in the face - and Diego _never_ missed - or give him a close haircut. Allison had changed all of his clothes out to obscenely tight dresses and booty shorts, as if Klaus _wouldn't_ be overjoyed with that. Five had taken to randomly teleporting him to random places and leaving him there - he'd woken up in the dairy isle of a grocery store half way across the city, in only his boxers, and he'd had to walk home like that - and even Vanya had joined in. Luther had taped a fucking _sign_ to his back - the worst part of that had been the fact it had _worked_. 

It was fun, and it had worked. The siblings had come together, joining sometimes to perform well-thought out pranks on others, though there were no strict teaming. It had been going on for weeks, now, and Klaus had taken to keeping a tally in the living room. Tension had bled out of the academy and everyone had relaxed around each other, found more fun with each other and acted like normal siblings, and Klaus did not regret annoying them with his pranks initially before they all joined in. 

Lately, though, the pranks were being stepped up a notch. Not necessarily harmful, per say, but more thought out and complex compared to putting some mouse traps under someone's covers. 

An example being Five had teleported Luther to the top of a sky-scraper, once. Luther had blocked Diego into a room for hours before giving in and letting him out. Allison had left Klaus mute for an entire three days before coming clean and giving him back his voice - she had rumoured him in his sleep and he'd woken up thinking he genuinely couldn't speak, and he had been freaking out by the end of the third day which made her stop it. She had admitted Diego and Five had dared her to do it for a week for some 'peace and quiet'. 

Still, there was a line that they knew not to step over. For Luther, they didn't disappear and leave him as isolated as he had been for four years on the moon. For Diego they didn't do anything including water - thanks, Reginald's A+ training - or Eudora. For Allison they didn't bring up Claire. For Klaus they didn't bring up gunshots/explosions or drugs or Dave. For Five they didn't bring up the apocalypse, pretending it was happening again. For Ben, Klaus wouldn't pretend he had brought him to life and give them that hope. For Vanya they didn't bring up locked rooms. 

They had lines drawn where they simply knew not to go over for then it wasn't simply a prank, but preying on their weaknesses and past trauma. They knew that, and they respected that.

 _However_ , there were things that some of them weren't aware were not pleasant aspects of their lives. For example, as if Klaus had never opened up about Vietnam and his flashbacks and unknowingly pulled a prank on him including fireworks or gunshots, something of the like. It was innocent enough considering they didn't know, but it was still a weakness and wouldn't go down with.

And Klaus knew that his siblings didn't really understand his powers, even to this day. The only ghost they had ever seen was Ben, and Ben looked like a normal person and he was nice. If Klaus had been in their position, he would have assumed that was what they all were like, too, so he couldn't really blame them. Still.

The past few days had been good. They had their family dinner together - each day of the week one of them would decide what to make or have for dinner, Klaus was on Thursdays - and Klaus even had a lovely movie night with Vanya and Allison in which they painted one another's nails. Allison talked about Claire, Vanya talked about a cute girl at her orchestra, and Klaus spoke about Dave. They put on some movies in the background and made popcorn and Klaus stole a dress from Vanya and pretended it wasn't dangerously short on him. It was good. Great, even. Lovely.

Luther had been working on gardening lately; he said he had missed that a lot on the moon. Plants and stuff; a simple thing, really, but now their garden was growing and blooming and gorgeous, and Klaus had put the idea of selling plants and shit in his head. It was nice to see him focused on something like that, though. Diego had been thinking about trying out the police academy again - he had said he might even go and join the army, but Klaus had had a breakdown over that thought so Diego promised not to go after that idea. Allison was still fighting for Claire though it was looking hopeful, now, and Vanya was continuing her musical genius and possibly getting a girlfriend. Klaus was making progress in his own powers, too; he could keep Ben physical to himself pretty much all the time, now, so much so he didn't even have to think about it and Ben would be an unyielding, solid thing under his touch. He could keep him visible to everyone else, too, for a lot longer. He had yet to see Dave, but one day. Five - hell, they'd tried to get Five to enrol in some school for prodigies, hoping it'd help him with his shit social skills, but he'd vehemently refused to do that and disappeared immediately after. 

Things were going well. Even now, it was nice. Klaus was sitting with Allison, just back from a trip to buy them more snacks, Vanya, Luther and Ben in the living room (Five was in the dining room for it was his day for dinner.) They had been continuing their movie marathon of  _The Lord of the Rings,_ but they'd gotten side tracked and had paused the movie. Instead, they had coaxed Vanya into playing some music for them, and that's how she ended up on the table (Klaus' request) playing a beautiful melody from her violin while the others cheered her on between mouthfuls of popcorn. 

Klaus saw movement in the corner of his eye and turned, then, to see Diego standing in the doorway. Klaus beamed at him, gesturing him over, until he noticed something wasn't quite right.

Diego was drenched. Soaking, head to two, with a puddle steadily growing underneath his feet. Sure, that worried Klaus, but what worried him more was the blood. It was trickling down his head from a cut and soaked his stupid jumper, particularly in two places; his chest, slap bam in the middle, and his abdomen. His lips were blue and chapped, hands stained red, hair a mess. Klaus thought the side of his head was red and sticky, too.

" _Shit_ \- man, are you okay?" He asked, jumping to his feet. Diego's lips moved silently, a small tremble, and Vanya's violin wavered. "What happened, man? What - shit, sit down, I'll get mum, I'll -"

" _Don't touch me,_ " Diego gasped, jolting away before Klaus' fingers could scrape him. 

"Klaus, who are you talking to?" Allison asked, her head cocked to the side. Vanya looked confused, bow hovering over her violin strings.

Klaus returned the look, gesturing at Diego.

"What do you mean? Diego's right there," he said, reaching out again but Diego fucking _flinched_. "Get mum, he needs help - hurry!" He snapped, utterly confused by why they were all just sitting there while their brother looked on the verge of death.

"Klaus," said Luther, slowly, as he rose to his feet. "Diego's not there," he told him, looking right at Diego. "No one's there."

Klaus' eyebrows drew together and he waved vigorously at Diego. "He is!" He hissed, turning to look at Diego. Dread was settling in his stomach, an idea forming, but he shoved it down.

"No one's there," Vanya backed up, stepping down from the table and setting her violin and bow aside. 

"Klaus," Diego said, voice quiet and low, and Klaus whipped around. His heart was pounding in his ears. "I - I... they fucking killed me - I'm - I'm fu-fu-fucking d-dead, Klaus. They dumped me - my-my body - in the... in the river. I got j-jumped," he stammered, and Klaus' eyes blew wide. 

"No - no, you're lying, stop it, stop it," he whipped around to face the others. They were acting as if Diego weren't even there, except for Ben. "You can see him," he claimed, pointing a finger in Diego's face.

"What are you saying, Klaus. He's not - not dead. I saw him before he left," Allison says, voice weak, and Klaus hunches his shoulders in. Then, he reaches out and grabs Diego. His skin is cold to the touch, similar to Ben's, and it doesn't really matter if he can touch him or not now because he can always touch ghosts now. Klaus drops his hand as if it just burnt him, and he shakes his head vigorously.

"No, stop it," Klaus said, because _no_. They'd had it so good lately. They were getting back on their feet, looking to the bright future ahead of them. They couldn't just lose Diego to - what? - some muggers?

Five walked in, then, though stopped a few feet short of Diego.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking at Klaus and the others. Not Diego.

"Klaus -" Diego spoke again, a croak, and blood spilled past his lips and Klaus let out a noise, pained and animalistic, and when he blinked tears fell from his eyes. He reached out with shaking hands, touching the blood stained patches of his soaking jumper as if he could heal the wounds beneath. So it was true. Diego had gone and gotten himself killed at work. 

Klaus staggered back, hands over his mouth because he thought he was going to be sick, and he could imagine it. Diego, ready to finish his shift and ready to come how to a nice meal because Five was actually an outstanding cook. Ready to come home to Klaus' shenanigans, to their sibling bickering and their jokes and a movie night, only to take the wrong shortcut, turn the wrong way, and be ambushed in a moment of weakness. He'd draw his knives but a bullet was faster than a blade, and he'd be shot once, in the abdomen first. They'd yell for his money and hit his head with the gun, cause it to bleed, and he'd hit it off the wall and get that scratch. Then he'd throw a knife, maybe get one of them, and they'd retaliate by the fatal shot in his chest. In a panic they'd raid his body and then chuck it and any evidence into the river and make a run for it. He could see it in clear view and it stole his breath.

He was on the floor, then, knees throbbing from falling, lungs burning as he gasped for air that couldn't get through his closing throat. Diego was dead. Dead, dead, dead. He was going to have to help him through death in the way he'd helped Ben. He was going to have another brother following him about, unused to civilians walking through him. He'd drag blood and water that only Klaus could see wherever he went until he learned how to clean his appearance up like Ben had. He wouldn't grow at all and he'd watch his siblings die and grow or move on, except for Klaus, and he'd be unable to do anything.

"No, no, no, Diego - Diego, you're not - fuck, fuck, shit, _no_ , I'm sorry," he wheezed in each short pant of an exhale, but he couldn't bring himself to look up again, see those drowned lips, hear his sad stutter, hoarse voice, the drip, drip, drip of red water. 

Diego was going to see the other ghosts, then, too, and soon. He could hear their whispers on the edge of his mind, cool against the shell of his ears. What if Diego ended up like one of those? Mindless, animalistic creatures, all humanity lost. He'd look like his corpse, rotting at the bottom of a river, and _holy shit_ he couldn't handle this. 

He slumped on the ground, eyes rolling back in his head, deaf to his siblings calling out his name, numb to Diego grabbing him, rubbing off the fake blood to show smooth, unharmed skin. 

 

 

 

When he opened his eyes, Klaus felt the urge to cry all over again. Of course he could remember what had happened. The others must have gotten a call from the precinct by now, telling them the bad news, and they'd have to confirm the body and have the funeral and - fuck. He took in a shuddering breath, pressing his hands to his wet, burning eyes. 

"Klaus?" Allison. Oh, she'd be heartbroken. They all would be, of course. Allison would hide in her bedroom and he'd hear her sobs through the walls. Luther would lock himself in his room, too. Five would steal a bottle of something from behind the bar and disappear in a flash of blue, and Vanya would go back home. Ben wouldn't say anything and Klaus would have to phone his old dealer up again, he had the number memorised, for a moment of not seeing his newly deceased brother.

He hauled himself up, forcing his eyes open. He was on the floor, still, and his body ached, head pounding. Everyone was surrounding him, wide eyed. Five was holding a glass of water, and Luther had a hand on Klaus' back to support him. 

"Are you okay?" Vanya asked, and Klaus let out a bitter laugh that ended in a sob. 

"He's dead," Klaus croaked. "Diego's fucking dead. You can't - you can't see him, he's dead."

"No, Klaus, Diego's - Diego's not dead," Allison said quickly, shaking her head. Klaus let out a dry laugh.

"Yes, he was," he said, sniffling. "He got jumped, Ally. He's dead. Diego's dead. He's dead."

"It was a prank," Luther blurted from behind him. "It was a prank, Klaus. We're sorry," he said, and Klaus turned on him, wide-eyed.

"What?" He asks, low, and their cheeks burn.

"It was a prank," Vanya cleared up, much softer than Luther. "We didn't expect you to react with that. We were going to clear it up quickly, but we thought it'd be obvious. I'm sorry," she saod, and everyone nodded their heads in agreement, uttering soft apologies. Klaus' eyes flew around.

"Where is he?" He asked, quiet and clinging to the hope that it is just a prank.

"He's cleaning off the makeup and stuff," Allison said, "that's what I did when I said I was going to the shop. We're sorry, Klaus, really," she explained. Klaus reached up for the water Five was holding, using both his hands to steady it as he drinks it before setting it beside him on the floor with trembling hands. His face was still wet and when he blinks smaller tears still fall, and he closed his eyes, taking slow breaths and trying to steady his hands.

Everyone fell into awkward silence until he hears hurried foot steps, and then Diego's coming back inside, dry and clean of blood, in different clothes. He hurried forwards upon seeing Klaus sitting up and Klaus can't help the small noise he made.

"K-Klaus," he stammered, and Klaus reached out, hands gripping Diego's forearms. His fingers curled around his wrist, pressing down until he feels the slightly elevated _thud, thud, thud_ of his heart. Alive, warm. 

"Hey, Klaus. I'm alive - it was just a prank, we didn't - fuck - think you'd freak out so much," he defended guiltily, cheeks red.

"I thought you were _dead_!" Klaus exclaimed shakily, and he saw everyone cringe, eyes avoiding his in guilt. Nonetheless, Klaus reached out to pull Diego into a forceful hug. He's solid and warm and breathing and _alive_ , and Klaus' fingers tightened his hold.

"Don't... don't fucking do that again," he muttered, resisting the urge to reach out again and find his pulse.

"We won't," Diego promised, voice low and sounding still shaken by Klaus' reaction. "We'll, uh... we'll team on the next, better prank?" He offered, and Klaus let out a hollow laugh.

"Yes," scoffed Klaus. "Later. I just want to finish the movie, please. With everyone."

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, feel free to leave a kudos and a comment; I appreciate it all. Thank you very much!


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